A research group led by Professor Isa Tadashi of Kyoto University revealed that nerve cells in the spinal cord play an important role in the recovery of motor function early after spinal cord injury.This achievement is a result of joint research with Hirosaki University, Fukushima Medical University, and Keio University.
It is known that when the spinal cord is injured, motor paralysis remains in various parts of the body such as limbs.However, many spinal cord injuries are incomplete injuries, and some nerve pathways leading to the muscles of the limbs remain intact.It has been speculated that this remaining neural pathway might help recover from motor paralysis, but the details were unknown.
Therefore, the research team focused on spinal cord-specific neurons that can bypass the injured site and transmit commands from the motor cortex to the motor neurons of the spinal cord after corticospinal tract injury in monkeys.Using the latest neural circuit manipulation technology (viral vector double infection method), it inhibits spinal cord-specific neurons at two different timings, and when and how neural pathways mediated by spinal cord-specific neurons affect recovery. I checked.
As a result, it was found that there are at least two stages in the recovery process, and recovery does not proceed well unless the spinal cord-specific neurons, which play an important role in the first stage, work well.On the other hand, once recovery progressed, it was found that other neuron groups were probably involved in recovery, and the importance of spinal cord-specific neurons was relatively reduced.
Professor Masaru Isa said, "This study has identified a group of neurons in the spinal cord that play an important role in the early stages of recovery after spinal cord injury, which had not been clarified so far. A new treatment for spinal cord injury. It can be expected to be an achievement that will lead to the development of law and the elucidation of the neurological basis of rehabilitation. "
